Health - Female Cocaine users health discussion / advice + pregancy / birth control

[speed]

ok this is the situation


my friend just found out she is pregnant


she has been using cokeuntil now and crack until a few months ago


how would it affect if she stopsthe coke? and how if she continiousthe coke?

[Nicaine]

How long has she been preggers?

Let's put it this way... if she stops now, there's a much better chance the baby won't be born with three legs and two heads. Clear enough?

OK, more seriously. The baby goes through what the mother goes through, only the baby is growing and developing rapidly. A growing heart and brain under enormous stress from cola is a very bad thing. 'Nuff said.Edited by: Nicaine

[MrJim]

She really must stop immediately. Cocaine use while pregnant has a long documented history of causing birth defects, low birthweight, developmental disorders as well as messing up the baby's dopamine levels. Dopamine is a very vital hormone. It's disruption can cause many other extremely serious problems. For the child's sake she has to stop right away.

[IvoryQueen]

Think about it, anything she puts into her body she puts into her babies body. You wouldnt exactly give a 5 year old a line of coke now would you? She really must stop now.

[IvoryQueen]

http://www.ivillage.co.uk/pregnancya...gnancy/concern preg/qas/0,,16_159030,00.html


the above link should cover any info u may need x

[sands of time]

Ehh, get that gal off the yay. The sooner, the better obviously.

[Unsolved]

Hi guys. Tried looking this up on the net and could not find anything about it, that I saw anyways. You guys are the experts I trust anyways. I'm kinda worried about my friend a little. She's 21 years old, in good health, using coke weekly. That enough kinda worries my but anyways. She told me for a couple of months now she has gotten little to no period while using coke. Before that her menstrual cycle was on a pretty good schedule. She's not pregent, I'm sure. But I am kinda concerned about that and she is a little too. Is that normal? Is this causing any damage to her reproductive organs? Is this an underlying sign of something seriously wrong? Any info you guys got would be much appreciated.

[transit]

Abstract<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />
Clinical studies suggest that cocaine disrupts reproductive function, but because cocaine abusers often abuse opiates and<SUP> </SUP>alcohol, it has been difficult to determine the contribution of<SUP> </SUP>cocaine alone. The effects of chronic cocaine self-administration<SUP> </SUP>on menstrual cycle duration and basal levels of progesterone were<SUP> </SUP>examined in eight female rhesus monkeys and compared with the<SUP> </SUP>effects of occasional administration of single cocaine doses (0.4<SUP> </SUP>or 0.8mg/kg) in six otherwise drug-free controls. All monkeys<SUP> </SUP>had normal ovulatory menstrual cycles before cocaine exposure.<SUP> </SUP>Monkeys self-administered cocaine (0.10mg/kg/injection) and food<SUP> </SUP>(1gm banana pellets) in 4daily sessions on a second-order schedule<SUP> </SUP>(fixed ratio 2[variable ratio 16:S]). Cocaine intake was limited<SUP> </SUP>to 8mg/kg/day. During the first cocaine exposure (256-776 days),<SUP> </SUP>monkeys self-administered 3.51(±0.77) to 7.41(±0.27) mg/kg/day.<SUP> </SUP>During the second cocaine exposure (103-623 days), monkeys self-administered<SUP> </SUP>6.18(±0.77) to 7.41(±0.27) mg/kg/day. In these prospective<SUP> </SUP>longitudinal studies, 48% of the menstrual cycles were of abnormal<SUP> </SUP>duration in the cocaine self-administration group, whereas only<SUP> </SUP>6% of the menstrual cycles were abnormal in the control group.<SUP> </SUP>There were 19episodes of amenorrhea (61-190 days of no menses).<SUP> </SUP>During cocaine self-administration, approximately one-third of<SUP> </SUP>the menstrual cycles were anovulatory with low mid-luteal progesterone<SUP> </SUP>levels of 2.04(±0.6) to 4.13(±0.5) ng/ml. Over 25% of menstrual<SUP> </SUP>cycles were anovulatory during cocaine withdrawal with mid-luteal<SUP> </SUP>progesterone levels below 5ng/ml. These data indicate that chronic<SUP> </SUP>cocaine exposure can disrupt the menstrual cycle in rhesus monkeys<SUP> </SUP>and that menstrual cycle abnormalities often persist during cocaine<SUP> </SUP>withdrawal. These data are consistent with clinical studies and<SUP> </SUP>reports of cocaine-induced disruption of the estrous cycle in<SUP> </SUP>rodents.

The above is just an abstract. For the whole article see: http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/281/1/70

[punkanini]

The first thing that popped into my head, without even giving a thought to the side-effects of cocaine usage, was weight loss. Is she skinny, or has she lost weight since starting use? If the body isn't getting enough nutrients, it starts shutting down certain functions, starting with the least important to the most important, in a hierarchical manner. Oncea womanis "underweight", one of the first things to go is her menstrual cycle. It's easily remedied though, I'd stay off coke for a good six months and eat healthy, regular meals. It sounds like a lot to do for a regular coke user, but there have been many related cases when women never got their periods back... so it's worth a shot.

[wingsofazrael]

Originally Posted by punkanini

The first thing that popped into my head, without even giving a thought to the side-effects of cocaine usage, was weight loss. Is she skinny, or has she lost weight since starting use? If the body isn't getting enough nutrients, it starts shutting down certain functions, starting with the least important to the most important, in a hierarchical manner. Oncea womanis "underweight", one of the first things to go is her menstrual cycle. It's easily remedied though, I'd stay off coke for a good six months and eat healthy, regular meals. It sounds like a lot to do for a regular coke user, but there have been many related cases when women never got their periods back... so it's worth a shot.

good response! swims girlfriend is like 115lbs and has single digit bodyfat...when females are so small it messes with their menstrual cycles badly. sometimes she wont have one and when she does its looks like shes dying, shes in so much pain. she dabbles with yay occasionally, but shes also a fitness buff...so im thinking its probably not just the yay, but also a combination of the girl being underweight or too skinny, if infact she is...

[Jupiter]

I know a girl in her 20, does lots of c. Not only does sho no longer
menstruate. she can shoot milk from her tiddies (clear across the
room). She's never been preg. or had kids. Weird, huh?

[b16a]

It's not uncommon for some girls that do coke and are taking birth control to have their cycles affected. Also, heavy smoking is common during coke use which can have serious negative effects on females taking birth control. All said, use of coke, cigarettes and/or birth control can certainly be linked to altered menstrual cycles.

[Urban]

SWIM has been doin coke for a while now. she is a 9st female and she has never had any problems in that way...... however she has had unprotected sex quite a few times and has never fallen pregnant...... is this luck or drug realted would you say!?

[punkanini]

it's hard to say, but I'd definitely recommend using a freaking condom next time... they're cheaper than coke, and way cheaper than abortions.

[adictive_n]

SWIM takes birth control pills and antidepressants and well just wondering if it can affect seriously my health???
SWIM´s starting to take less antiD pills since 15 days ago....but the birth control pills...everyday...does this affect it´s power?
Can someone help?

P.S. I tried looking with the search engine this topic but couldn´t find it....

Plz Help!

[fletch]

im no doctor and take what you will from this but in common sense it would only seem likely that this would not be healthy. as for how serious the outcomes would be im not sure, but i mean experienced users will know that habitual nature to cocaine eventually leads to a depressive state of mind, so really i dont see how doing it could be a good combination with the antidepressants, as fpr the birth control dont think the cocaine would effect it but again im not entirely sure.

[jholmes800]

Although the "crack baby" hysteria of the 1980s was greatly exaggerated, cocaine use during pregnancy can cause subtle but disabling cognitive impairments -- attention deficits, learning disabilities and emotional problems.
A recent study by investigators at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development may help explain the long-term behavioral and neurological problems associated with prenatal exposure to cocaine. In a recent issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, Gregg Stanwood, Ph.D., and Pat Levitt, Ph.D., report that prenatal cocaine exposure in rabbits causes a long lasting displacement of dopamine receptors in certain brain cells, which alters their ability to function normally.
Though this effect has not yet been assessed in cocaine-exposed children, the findings give researchers a place to start looking.
"The hysteria surrounding the 'crack baby' was sort of overblown," said Stanwood, research assistant professor of Pharmacology and lead author on the study.
Incredibly high levels of cocaine -- usually coupled with the abuse of other drugs -- can lead to premature labor, preterm birth and low birth weight, Stanwood said.
"But in women who have abused relatively low recreational doses of cocaine, it is actually very hard to distinguish those children at birth from children born to anyone else," he said. "However, as those children age, they do develop deficits in their cognitive and emotional development."
These children often exhibit attention and arousal problems, similar to children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, the standard treatments for ADHD -- Ritalin and other stimulants -- are not always effective in these children.
Studying the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on the developing brain is difficult in human populations because cocaine abusers often abuse other drugs. Animal models can help determine how prenatal cocaine exposure might influence brain development to cause these subtle cognitive impairments.
"We thought that it was important to set up an animal model that recapitulates a key feature of human abuse -- that being intravenous exposure to low doses of cocaine," Stanwood said.
A few years ago, Stanwood and Levitt, professor of Pharmacology and director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, established such a model in rabbits. They found that exposure to low levels of intravenous cocaine during a very short window of time during gestation -- equivalent to the late first trimester and early second trimester in humans -- caused specific alterations in brain circuits that use the neurotransmitter dopamine. Additionally, these cocaine-exposed offspring showed attention problems as well as insensitivity to stimulants like amphetamine, suggesting that cocaine exposure had altered the development of the dopamine pathways in the brain.
"In collaboration with Dr. Eitan Friedman of the City University of New York, we had previously shown a decrease in signaling of a particular receptor protein, the dopamine D1 receptor," Stanwood said. "We know that this receptor is involved in regulating the formation of cortical circuitry. It's also involved in the behavioral effects of amphetamines and cocaine."
"The current study was an attempt to look at the mechanism of this decrease in D1 receptor signaling," he said.
Stanwood examined the levels of D1 receptor in brain cells taken from "teenage" rabbits that were exposed to cocaine during that short, sensitive prenatal period.
He found that cocaine exposure did not alter the total amount of D1 receptor produced in the brain. However, there was a dramatic alteration in the location of the protein within the cell.
"It's not where it should be," he said. D1 receptors are normally found at the cell surface, but neurons from the cocaine-exposed animals showed the receptor was predominantly sequestered inside the cells.
"The fascinating thing is that this effect appears permanent," said Stanwood. This implies that cocaine exposure during a brief, sensitive period of neural development can lead to long-lasting effects at the cellular level.
This change also altered the growth of neuronal processes, suggesting that the altered D1 receptor trafficking may underlie the changes in neuronal architecture and behavior that Stanwood and others have previously observed.
What remains to be determined, he cautioned, is whether D1 receptor localization is affected in humans exposed to cocaine prenatally.
If found in humans, "it gives us a new way to think about helping those children as they continue to mature." Because cocaine exposure seems to alter the distribution of the D1 receptor, Stanwood suggests that researchers might find a way to "steer" the receptor into the correct cellular location. That could provide new avenues for treating the attention problems in cocaine-exposed children, as well as in children with stimulant-resistant ADHD.
"Neither we nor anyone else has yet identified whether this mechanism occurs in the human population," Stanwood said, "so that is a critical next step."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0112155153.htm

[TinnyTinyCokedUPBallerina]

Okay so Swim started snorting coke two years ago, and swim has loved it ever since!
Until six months ago,she would use maybe once a month and would be splitting an eight-ball between at least someone else and swim. If someone had told swim back then that she was going to be going through one or more eightballs by herself in a night, Swim would have laughed out of disbelief!
But obviously thats about how much swim is using now... 4 /5 day a week ! (don't worry swim's mom found out and she had to start taking it a bit easier about two weeks ago).

But Swim was thinking that all the females need to share beauty tips, because (1.) Swim has noticed that it helps someone with an addiction hide their situation from people... if thats a need one even has to care about... and (2.) personally Swim told me, she doesn't mind living like a cocaine junkie but not looking like one! Especially when as females swim and swiy's typically gets horny, Swim want to be able to have my man not scare him off:

~okay so first, anyone else get the eyes pulling back into your eye-sockets, with of course the nice dark circles underneath?
Swim has found that using Dove Energy Glow Eye Cream, SPF8 ; works WONDERS!!!

~Obviously coke causes dehydration,
[COLOR="rgb(139, 0, 0)"]Swim has found that it really help to use a good quality, face pore minimizing Moisturizer (swim prefer it to be SPF 15 as well) don't forget the rest your body though, lather that lotion all over girls![/COLOR]

~ Dry lips
[COLOR="rgb(139, 0, 0)"] make sure you carry lip balm with you everywhere, I haven't found though that works impressively... anyone else got a brand that go??[/COLOR]

~For swim looks with her mom isn't that big of a deal, because swim and her mom live in different states. Swim has to worry more about not constantly sounding like she is losing her voice and a runny nose! Any one have a tip for SWIM?

~Don't forget your daily multi-viamine and swim actually was advised from her doctor to take extra calcium and vitamin D, because of the drugs and for the simple fact she doesn't eat much of anything ever.

If Swiy knows of anything else that can help all of us females stay put together, please post! Or questions, maybe the answer can be figured out together...

Reputation Comments on this post:

Useful thread.

[Jessica_Raven]

those are all great tips SWIM doesn't really have any good tips like that but thanks for SWIY's tips

[dbjay417]

SWIM is not female, but the best beauty tip SWIM can give a female coke addict is to try to get to sleep on a regular basis. Sleep, try to get a good nights sleep at least 3 nights a week, and try to squeeze in two small meals a day. Coke alone wont destroy your natural beauty, its the mistreatment you put yourself through while using coke that kills you. Heres some rules i used to keep myself healthy while in full blown coke mode.

If you haven't slept in 30 hours, your tired even if you dont feel it.
if you haven't eaten if 18 hours, your hungry even if you don't feel it.

Cocaine muddles your brains interaction with your body, so you have to actively think about what your body needs.

[Divalici0us]

SWIM always tries to catch somesleep. Also important is tho know what you do the next day. So she dont usses to much make up. And SWIM always gets a fresh shower before she starts the day drinking some vitamine juices also works, just dont take it to long and dont act to wierd.

[ena]

ohhhhhh defenetly sleep but also vitimins and food...cocaine makes swim forget about sleep and food... Swim is asking the same question to herself , because she can hardly get some sleep ...swim is thinking that maybe opiates or valium can help , but is not sure if there is great deal of treat combining all

[sweetsugar]

yup yup yup, swim disagrees with taking any (or most) drugs while pregnant, but she would greatly appreciate some advise...

Swims close friend has just found out she is pregnant, approx 4wks. Before her positive test she had a few blazes on the ole crack pipe - would this cause any mental/physical damage to her unborn baby? or any pregnancy complications etc? swim is very worried for her as she has longed for a baby... Shes now quit taking drugs of all kinds but fears the damage has already been done. Is it possible for swims friends pregnancy and baby will be healthy?

[Paracelsus]

Tell your friend not to worry. So-called "crack babies" (children of mothers addicted to crack during pregnancy) do not exhibit serious damage, and a single dose will most likely do absolutely no damage. Use the search engine for more information.

[sweetsugar]

thankyou, im sure that'll put swims friends mind at ease!!